Come join us at Advocate's Internet Cafe: public wifi, good conversation on the menu

What the Advocate cafeteria lacks in variety, it more than makes up for in comfort food and charm.

A little-known treat in downtown Victoria, the cafeteria is open to the public for lunch Tuesday through Friday. It opens for coffee on the honor system at 8 a.m. every weekday. BarBara Kaiser is the grill cook and cuddly curmudgeon.

We want to take fuller advantage of this special amenity by inviting you to join our journalists and other staff in what we are unofficially calling our Internet Cafe. We've added public wifi to the kitchen, so you're encouraged to bring your laptop or tablet for coffee or lunch. We also have a Macintosh computer available for public use if you don't have your own.

The Internet Cafe will be staffed with journalists every weekday morning. We hope you'll buy a cup of coffee, sign on to our wifi and chat with us.

Here is the schedule for newsroom staff Monday-Friday in the Internet Cafe, located at the corner of Constitution and De Leon streets on the east side of the Advocate building:

• 8-9 a.m.: Interactivity Editor Jessica Puente will be available to answer your questions about submitting items to the newspaper and our websites. She's a terrific resource for any Internet question you might have.

• 9-10 a.m.: I'll move my office from upstairs and be available to talk about whatever is on your mind.

• 10-10:30 a.m.: Our editors gather for a webcast of our morning news meeting. You can either join us in the cafeteria to talk in person or tune in at VictoriaAdvocate.com and chat via the live-streaming texting feature. We've webcast these morning meetings for several years, but we're moving downstairs to make it easier for you to visit in person.

• Noon-1 p.m.: A rotating schedule of reporters, photojournalists and editors will be in the cafeteria during the lunch hour. You can chat with a journalist or just enjoy Barb's down-home cooking.

• 2:30-3 p.m.: Our editors gather again for a webcast of our afternoon news meetings. This is when we firm up what stories will go on the front page. As always, you're welcome to join us in person or via the webcast.

Also, we've started webcasting our weekly editorial board meetings. These are from about 1:30-2:30 p.m. Wednesdays. If you want to help shape the Advocate editorial board's opinions, please stop by the cafeteria or tune in.

As a community newspaper, we've prided ourselves on being your Advocate for 165 years.

The Internet Cafe is just one more way we do that. You might call it a tasty technological tool for doing what we've always done - being here for you.

We have a slogan we try to live: Innovate. Educate. Advocate.

The Internet Cafe serves up all three menu items.

Chris Cobler is the editor of the Victoria Advocate. He may be reached at ccobler@vicad.com or at 361-574-1271 - or at 9 a.m. weekdays in the Advocate cafeteria.